It's all there

WHEN I opened the door one night to let the cat out, I saw a thin crescent of light through the clouds. After a moment I realized that it was the moon, about to disappear behind the mountains. It didn't occur to me to think that the sliver was all there was left to the moon. It's common knowledge that there are phases of the moon (to earthlings' view). So even though I could see only a small fraction of it, I understood that the whole moon was intact.

When only a small fraction of our health or joy is apparent, we can rely on a knowledge of God and His creation to reassure us that we are, in fact, as He created us -- in His likeness, spiritual and whole. This knowledge, this spiritual perspective found in the Bible, is what enabled Christ Jesus to heal the most inveterate cases of disease, such as leprosy, blindness, insanity. And the Master told his followers, ``He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.''1

Healing of disease and sin is possible and is occurring through prayer, through trusting the revealed spiritual truth of God and man, as Jesus and his disciples demonstrated it. This truth of God's omnipotent goodness and man's true status as His perfect, spiritual offspring hasn't diminished with the passing centuries, nor will it ever do so. Its healing authority is eternally powerful and available universally.

When Mary Baker Eddy2 was healed of a severe injury after reading the Bible and glimpsing something of spiritual existence, she became convinced that there is a divine source of health as available now as it had been in Jesus' time. She spent three years searching the Bible to discover the Science of the Scriptures that underlay Christian healing. Her work resulted in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

Many individuals have found healing through study of the Holy Bible in conjunction with Science and Health. They've found healing through a perception of the true, spotless nature of man as God's spiritual image and through a growing conformity to the Biblical demand for regeneration, for spiritualization of thought.

My own family have experienced healings of influenza, gout, injuries from accidents, a chronic respiratory disease considered incurable, and marital, financial, and employment difficulties, among others. These have come about through learning to live more in line with the truths taught by Jesus. And as we've grown in our understanding that God's infinitely loving embrace is an established, eternal reality, we've found fear and pain less and less able to impose themselves on our lives.

It's not possible to gain a new, healing view without in some degree letting go of the old. A radically different view of life as spiritual is the basis for healing. And though many come to Christian Science because all else has failed, it's also true that there is a hunger in the world for something other than a materialistic approach to daily life.

The Christian Science textbook states, ``The admission to one's self that man is God's own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea.''3 This admission enables one to glimpse the possibilities available to everyone who turns away from a superficial, fleshly sense of life to Spirit as the source of ideas, inspiration, and direction.

Just as the moon is intact, regardless of appearances, man's integrity and purity are intact, established -- entirely and always. Through prayer that springs from this perception we can prove it in healing. Everyone has access to divine Love. It's possible therefore to turn to God now for answers about our wholeness, our undiminished health and well-being. As James wrote, ``Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.''4

1John 14:12. 2The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. 3Science and Health,p. 90. 4James 4:8. You can find more articles like this one in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine. DAILY BIBLE VERSE I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it. Ecclesiastes 3:14